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Sustainability Action Plan: Water

The campus takes initiatives to limit, conserve, and reuse water to lessen our use of these limited resources. Through using reclaimed water, sustainable landscaping, and best practices for storm water management the campus can lessen its water consumption.

Sustainability Action Plan
Water Section

Objective 1: Reduce the gallons of potable water used annually
Objective 2: Implement water conservation practices for landscaping
Objective 3: Improve stormwater management

Top Accomplishments

• NAU’s first goal in its 2010 Action Plan was to “Reduce the gallons of potable water per square foot of building space used annually by 20 percent by 2015 (using 2002 as the baseline year).” NAU is excited to announce that this goal has been reached and far exceeded. In 2002, NAU used 261,559,640 gallons of potable water and in 2016 we only used 190,142,191 gallons – a 27% decrease!
• Even though the university has switched over to reclaimed water, it’s still managed to decrease total water use (potable + reclaimed) from 261,559,640 gallons in 2002 to 244,144,791 gallons in 2016. During that same time the student population has increased by 7,537 and campus square footage has increased 56%.
• We’re limiting water intensive lawns through use of xeriscaping, hardscaping, and drought resistant plants
• We’ve installed shower heads, toilets, urinals and faucet aerators
• We meter the majority of the potable water usage on campus
• There are Environmental Education Outreach Programs that provide water education in Native American Communities
• In 2008, tray-less dining began in the dining halls
• 80% of campus lawns are watered with reclaimed water
• Residence Life utilizes Energy Star washing machines and operates Environmentally Responsible Laundry Rooms. Learn about the Carbon Neutral Laundry at On Campus housing: Green NAU Blog Post
• We’re moving towards an centralized irrigation system which saves approximately 30% water